Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CHENGDU286
2007-12-07 09:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

KUNMING CATHOLIC NUNS TRY TO REBUILD

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KIRF CH 
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 070957Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2685
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0049
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0007
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0008
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3250
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000286 

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EAP/CM AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/7/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF CH
SUBJECT: KUNMING CATHOLIC NUNS TRY TO REBUILD

REF: 2005 CHENGDU 000548

CHENGDU 00000286 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu, China.
REASON: 1.4 (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000286

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EAP/CM AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/7/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF CH
SUBJECT: KUNMING CATHOLIC NUNS TRY TO REBUILD

REF: 2005 CHENGDU 000548

CHENGDU 00000286 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu, China.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1. (C) Summary: According to a nun presiding over a group of
ten sisters at the Kunming Sacred Heart Church in southwest
China's Yunnan Province, local religious affairs authorities are
in general more difficult to work with than their counterparts
to the north in Sichuan. The church was able, however, to
obtain official permission to accept new nuns and novices three
years ago, is currently undergoing a rebuilding program, and
intends to bring in foreign Maryknoll nuns to train its new
local recruits "secretly." End Summary




2. (C) Congenoff visited the Sacred Heart Catholic Church (9
Beijing Road near center city) in southwest China's provincial
capital of Kunming in November). The Church is the seat of the
Bishop of Kunming. The last bishop of Kunming died eight years
ago and has not since been replaced. Sister Yang Shuyuan, who
leads a group of ten sisters at the church, told Congenoff that
a bishop from Beijing, Joseph Ma, devotes about one-third of his
time to the Kunming diocese. Yang said that Bishop Ma has not
yet been recognized by the Pope but "he is well thought of by
the Chinese bishops" (Note: With some notable exceptions, most
of China's official "Catholic Patriotic Church" are currently
recognized by the Vatican. End note). Yang said that
negotiations between the Chinese and the Vatican are making slow
progress, but hopes they will be completed within a few years.
Inside the church, Congenoff noted a large poster with a picture
of Pope Benedict XVI above a Chinese translation of the Pope's
2007 Easter Message.




3. (C) When Congenoff mentioned meeting Bishop Chen of Yibin
two years ago (ref),she asked about the bishop and commented
that the religious affairs authorities in Yunnan were much
tougher in handling Catholic affairs than their counterparts in
Sichuan Province. She mentioned a priest, a member of the
"Legion of Mary", who had spent 28 years in prison as an example
of the suffering of the priesthood. After leaving prison, he
was unable to sit up straight due to his prison experience.
Yang also mentioned a Kunming priest currently in a training
program in France as a hope for the future.



Nuns Help Rebuild

--------------




4. (C) Sister Yang, originally from Kunming, spent 17 years as
a nun in Hong Kong and twenty in Taiwan before returning to her
native Kunming. She arrived just as the Yunnan religion
authorities were returning Church properties in the late 1980's.
Sister Yang supported herself as a Chinese-English translator
for the Yunnan Province S&T Commission while helping out at the
church until she was allowed to organize and lead a group of
nuns. She is now draws a pension from her translation work.
The Yunnan local Religious Affairs Bureau authorities three
years ago allowed the nuns to accept new members three years
ago. Currently there are ten nuns and two novices at the
Kunming Sacred Heart Catholic Church.



Restoring Communities and Buildings

-------------- -




5. (SBU ) The Sacred Heart Church was built in the Gothic
style but lost its spires during the years it had been
confiscated for non-religious uses. The properties adjacent to
the church -- an apartment building built on Church property and
the Bishop's residence were returned six and ten years ago. The
Kunming Church plans to tear down the current structures and
rebuild the church in several years once funding has been
assured. Restoration work on Sacred Heart Church will cost
about RMB six million, said Yang. Yang hopes eventually to
build a religious community for nuns in the countryside.




6. (C) Yang says education and training the clergy and nuns are

CHENGDU 00000286 002.2 OF 002


a top priority. Some of the clergy wanted to send the nuns out
to the countryside so they will be tempered by difficult living
conditions. Yang had argued, successfully, that education is
the first priority. She is arranging for Maryknoll nuns to help
train a new generation of nuns. When Congenoff asked if
permission could be obtained for foreign nuns to train Chinese
nuns in China, Yang replied "We will do it secretly."




7. (C) Comment: As Congenoff has noticed in other Catholic
Churches in China, the Roman Catholic identity at Sacred Heart
Church remains strong beneath the patriotic church veneer. The
Catholics at Sacred Heart hope that the Vatican-Beijing talks
will help resolve their church's painful double life.
BOUGHNER